The sense of happiness and relief felt by Palestinians after the release of 90 prisoners from Israeli custody as part of a ceasefire agreement to end fighting in Gaza was driven by concerns about their circumstances. It is weakened.
Palestinian prisoners were exhausted, malnourished, and in some cases unrecognizable from their pre-Israeli counterparts.
Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank have released 90 prisoners, including women and children, in the first step after a ceasefire was agreed.
Khalida Jalal, a leading figure in the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was released from prison with her hair completely white after months in solitary confinement.
The 61-year-old parliamentarian, feminist and prisoners’ rights advocate has been held in administrative detention, a policy that allows Israeli authorities to detain individuals without charge or trial, since December 26, 2023. Ta.
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In August, she was transferred to solitary confinement as a “form of punishment” and held for six months in a 1m x 1.5m cell at Ayalon (Ramla) prison, according to the Palestinian Prisoners of War Club.
Palestinian political leader Khalida Jalal has been released as part of a ceasefire agreement brokered between Israel and Hamas.
Jalal has been in administrative detention since December 2023 and reportedly spent the past six months in solitary confinement pic.twitter.com/Q5aDobaKNb
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 20, 2025
Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi said all the prisoners released on Monday had endured “severe abuse, including verbal and physical violence, deprivation and isolation.”
“Israeli prisons are notorious for the abuse and torture of Palestinian prisoners of war. We rejoice at the release of captive women and children and look forward to the release of the remaining 11,000. Freedom is priceless. ” she added in a post to X.
Abla Sadat, who was held in Ofer prison under administrative detention, told Middle East Eye that living conditions in Israeli prisons were “completely inhumane”.
“The conditions are terrible, from the lack of food and medical care to the treatment (of prisoners). They’re trying to make us feel like they have authority over us… They’re trying to crush our sense of self and our pride.”
“A moment of freedom is something I wish for every prisoner. Freedom is so precious.”
– Ahmad Sadat, former Palestinian prisoner
A former detainee whose husband, Ahmad Sadat, remains in Israeli custody, said he had “never seen this level of abuse in the history of the[Palestinian]occupation.”
Sadat said he was brought in for questioning under the guise of a medical examination just a week after being imprisoned and was later accused of endangering the security of the prison and Israel as a whole. She was then kept in complete isolation in a 2m x 2m cell for two weeks.
“They were spraying gas inside our cells before shackling us, blindfolding us and making us kneel in the prison courtroom,” she said, adding that the October 7 Hamas-led It added that the abuse escalated after the attack.
“I want every prisoner to have a moment of freedom. Freedom is truly priceless,” she said.
Palestinian news agency Arab 48 reported that the days leading up to Monday were particularly difficult for the freed people, noting that they had no idea they would be freed so soon.
One of the released detainees, Yasmin Abu Suroul, said prison administrators cut them off from the outside world a week before the ceasefire agreement took effect, leaving them completely isolated.
“We haven’t heard from anyone for a week and we don’t know what’s going on outside. Until Sunday morning, we weren’t sure if it was our freedom day,” she said.
Abuse and violence in Israeli prisons
Several former detainees spoke of daily abuse, violence and humiliation hours before their release.
Amal Shujaiyah, from Ramallah, said they were stripped and searched almost daily, given little food and denied medical care.
First wave of Palestinian prisoners celebrate freedom despite Israeli delays and restrictions
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“This has not been easy. This issue of violation of the privacy of female detainees has caused us great harm and must be highlighted,” she told reporters upon her release.
Another female prisoner, Dunya Ishtaie, was seen hugging her mother and was in distress.
“I was dying, they were trying to kill me,” she cried.
Raghad Amr, 23, from Hebron, said the female prisoners endured torture, beatings and humiliations in the hours before their release, with some having their hair pulled by Israeli officers.
She recalled that they also faced threats from prison authorities.
They were then transferred to posts in what she called cold “metal cages” and transferred to the notorious Ofer prison.
There they were made to lie on the floor, shown graphic videos of violence, beaten, stripped and interrogated again.
“Israeli prisoners were said to be in good conditions and given gifts…while we were grabbed by the hair, beaten and humiliated,” she said.
“This comparison of one side to the other will never be forgotten.”
